Economic Watch: China's skiing fervor glides into southern shopping malls

by Xinhua writers Yue Wenwan, Gong Liankang and Yao Yuan

WUHAN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A row of Nordic-style wooden cottages, roofs blanketed with artificial snow, and a 200-meter slope dotted with skiers: a bustling shopping mall in central China's Wuhan is the unlikely setting for this winter wonderland.

Natural snow is a rare sight in the city, which is located in Hubei Province, but that does not douse t